1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-forming method using a silver halide photographic material, specifically an image-forming method of recording a digital data on a silver halide photographic material with little deterioration. The invention further relates to a silver halide photographic material capable of realizing the image-forming method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the manufacture of a movie, a method of making a duplicate by printing on an intermediate film an image data photographed with a negative film for photographing as the original image, and further printing the duplicate on a positive film for motion picture to use it for projection has been conventionally used.
In many cases, an intermediate film for the manufacture of a duplicate is used two times. An original negative film is printed on a negative type intermediate film to make a master positive film. The master positive image is then again printed on the intermediate film to make a duplicate negative film. Lastly the duplicate negative image is printed on a positive film for motion picture to make a print for screening.
In recent years in the manufacture of movies, a method of converting an original image to a film again as an analog image by digital synthesis and edition with a film recorder has been rapidly prevailing. This is for the reason that the degree of freedom of presentation of screen image can be enlarged by the creation of an image that is impossible in the actual world by synthesis and edition with the computer. Various image data can be used as original images, for example, image data obtained by digitizing the image data photographed with a negative film for photographing with a film scanner, image data photographed with an HD video camera, image data obtained by computer graphics and the like.
As the number of pixels of an original image, for example, when a negative film for photographing is digitized with a film scanner to make an image data of 2,048×1,556, the number of pixels is 3,190,000 pixels.
When an original image is conveniently made in a digital data and screened by conventional analog projection as described above, processes such that the original image made as a digital data is printed on an intermediate film and then this duplicate image data is printed on a positive film for motion picture similarly to the conventional method are taken.
However, when such a method is used, a problem has newly arisen with the increase in resolution of digital data. When an original image is printed on a silver halide photographic material, the image quality is deteriorated and sufficient image quality for screening cannot be secured. There are problems of the improvement of the deterioration of image qualities ascribable to photographic characteristics of analog silver halide photographic materials, such as the occurrence of blur, the deterioration of sharpness, and the reduction of color reproduction. JP-A-10-20461 (The term “JP-A” as used herein refers to an “unexamined published Japanese patent application”.) discloses a silver halide color photographic material that is characterized in that the N value of a magenta image by laser scanning exposure is from 100 to 200 μm. The N value is the amount corresponding to the blur of an image, which patent discloses the decrement of blur of letters in printing on color photographic paper. However, a pixel size is 12 μm or smaller in resolution of 2,000 dpi or more used in recent years in the field of manufacture of movies, so that such an N value is apparently inappropriate in resolving a precise image data.
JP-A-62-284344 discloses that, in laser film recording with argon (Ar) laser (wavelength: 514.5 nm) as the green light source, little color mixing and improvements in graininess and resolution can be achieved by making coincide the peak wavelength of spectral sensitivity of the green-sensitive emulsion layer of a silver halide color photographic material with the wavelength 514.5 nm of argon (Ar) laser.
However, there are no descriptions relating to image recording in high resolution in JP-A-7-128791. Further, green light source apparatus used in the field of manufacture of movies in recent years is a small size and solid state lasers are mainly used for electric power conservation, and the wavelength of the light sources is 532.0 nm, so that such a silver halide photographic material as disclosed in JP-A-7-128791 is apparently inappropriate in recording a precise digital image data.
Blur and sharpness can be improved by the prevention of light scattering. It has been thought that the greater the surface area of silver halide grains of the constituent of photographic material, in particular tabular grains having a greater surface area, the greater is light scattering. For example, JP-A-7-128791 discloses a technique and examples to improve sharpness by containing a fixed magenta dye on a further side from the support of a green-sensitive layer containing tabular silver halide grains.
As described above, conventional intermediate films are used for duplication by printing thereon with an image data photographed by using a negative film for photographing as an original image, so that it is sufficient for conventional intermediate films to use fine silver halide grains having an average equivalent-sphere diameter of 0.35 μm or less that are almost free from light scattering and capable of highly precise recording.
However, when a digital data highly increased in resolution that is different from conventional use is recorded on a limited recording area, occurrence of blur, reduction of sharpness, and deterioration of color reproduction are conspicuous, so that conventional intermediate films are insufficient in recording precise images.
Accordingly, a silver halide photographic material capable of recording a digital data with little deterioration, that is, a silver halide photographic material capable of preventing occurrence of blur, reduction of sharpness and deterioration of color reproduction, and capable of recording a digital data is strongly desired.
Further, when digital image data are recorded with a film recorder, recording time of 10 hours or longer is required in many cases from the beginning to the end of recording. In this case, there is a problem of the fluctuation of photographic performances due to aging from exposure to development process of films, i.e., conservation of latent images. There is a difference in time lapsing from exposure to development process between the first part and the last part of recording data, and a problem that the tints of images deviate from each other arises. Therefore, photographic materials little in the fluctuation of latent image conservation have been strongly desired.